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US 4,652,710 AGranted
Mercury switch with non-wettable electrodes
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorsMaurice M. Karnowsky, Frederick G. Yost
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Abstract
A mercury switch device comprising a pool of mercury and a plurality of electrical contacts made of or coated with a non-wettable material such as titanium diboride.
Claims9
In a mercury switch having a plurality of spaced conductive electrodes with contacts thereon which are bridged by a mercury pool when the switch is closed and free of said mercury pool when said switch is open, the improvement comprising:
- contacts on said conductive electrodes formed of a material selected from the group consisting of metallic borides, nitrides and silicides, with the proviso that said silicides do not include the silicides of Cr, Mo, and W;
- whereby mercury wetting of said contacts is precluded, thereby avoiding undesired bridging of said contacts in the open position of said switch.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.